Interview + Housing | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/society/series/interview+housing
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Alex Stephany: How crowdfunding can create empathy with homeless peoplehttps://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/nov/28/crowdfunding-help-homeless-people-jobs
The founder of Beam says that his site is not doing the work of the state and builds an emotional connection with individuals helped into jobs<p>“Growing up in London I always felt guilty about homelessness and remember seeing people on the street and being horrified,” says Alex Stephany. “Now, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/aug/10/uk-homeless-expected-double-2041-charity-crisis-warns" title="">homelessness has risen 60% since 2011</a> and it’s impossible not to see the evidence of that. I’d buy someone a coffee and chat to them, donate to charities but always felt powerless and wondered what I could do to help someone long-term, not just immediately.”</p><p>This month the 36-year-old tech entrepreneur launched a crowdfunding platform, <a href="https://www.wearebeam.org/" title="">Beam</a>, to allow people to donate money online that will support homeless people to get the training and qualifications they need to do the job they want.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/nov/24/council-proposes-1000-fines-for-homeless-sleeping-in-tents">Council proposes £1,000 fines for homeless people sleeping in tents</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/aug/15/how-i-became-homeless-three-peoples-stories">How I became homeless: three people's stories</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/nov/28/crowdfunding-help-homeless-people-jobs">Continue reading...</a>HomelessnessCrowdfundingSocial exclusionHousingPovertySocietyTechnologyVocational educationEducationUK newsTue, 28 Nov 2017 14:00:06 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/nov/28/crowdfunding-help-homeless-people-jobsPhotograph: Graeme Robertson for the GuardianPhotograph: Graeme Robertson for the GuardianDawn Foster2017-11-28T14:00:06ZMartin Tett: ‘It’s about priorities. For me, that’s social care and decent housing’https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/oct/03/martin-tett-social-care-decent-housing-austerity-neglect-investment
Austerity means careful, selective investment is needed in core services, says Martin Tett, the Conservative leader of Buckinghamshire council<br /><p>Town hall leaders may feel that they have a lot to deal with as a result of funding pressures, but the Conservative leader of Buckinghamshire county council, Martin Tett, doesn’t believe that public shouting at the government works. Tett, who sits on the executive of the cross-party Local Government Association says “a good, reasoned argument” goes further.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/23/liverpool-tory-cuts-city-benefits-poorest">In Liverpool, 20 Tory cuts have brought a city and its people to breaking point | Frances Ryan</a> </p><p>As a Conservative I'm not happy attacking the government, but also I just don’t think it’s an effective tactic</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/oct/03/martin-tett-social-care-decent-housing-austerity-neglect-investment">Continue reading...</a>Local governmentSocietyAusterityEconomicsBusinessPoliticsUK newsHousingCommunitiesSocial careTue, 03 Oct 2017 12:00:02 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/oct/03/martin-tett-social-care-decent-housing-austerity-neglect-investmentPhotograph: Sarah Lee for the GuardianPhotograph: Sarah Lee for the GuardianHélène Mulholland2017-10-03T12:00:02ZPolly Neate: ‘Housing is the bedrock of everything’ | Dawn Fosterhttps://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/sep/05/fundamental-right-to-a-good-home-polly-neate-chief-executive-shelter
<p>The Grenfell fire showed that we’ve forgotten about the fundamental right to a good home, says the new chief executive of the charity Shelter</p><p>On the night of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/30/grenfell-tower-not-a-tragedy-an-atrocity-poverty-moral-failures" title="">Grenfell Tower fire</a>, Polly Neate looked out of her window at the tower block blaze. “I saw the flames and heard the sirens,” she says. “I don’t think you could fail to have a really unsettling, almost nauseating sense of your own privilege. Standing in your really nice secure house and looking at that block burning – I mean how could you not be impacted by that?”</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/housing-network/2017/aug/31/tiny-starter-homes-pocket-living-housing-crisis-sadiq-khan-deregulation">Dear Sadiq: pocket-sized homes are the last thing London needs | Lisa Mckenzie</a> </p><p>Shelter has to play a leading role in demanding accountability over housing – and building a narrative</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/sep/05/fundamental-right-to-a-good-home-polly-neate-chief-executive-shelter">Continue reading...</a>HousingCommunitiesSocietyHomelessnessSocial exclusionPovertyCharitiesVoluntary sectorUK newsGrenfell Tower fireHousing NetworkPolicyTue, 05 Sep 2017 13:00:04 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/sep/05/fundamental-right-to-a-good-home-polly-neate-chief-executive-shelterPhotograph: Martin Godwin for the GuardianPhotograph: Martin Godwin for the GuardianDawn Foster2017-09-05T13:00:04ZAlison Inman: ‘Some who experience domestic abuse will live in social housing’ | Jane Dudmanhttps://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/aug/29/number-suffer-perpetrate-domestic-abuse-will-live-social-housing-alison-inman
<p>Tenant champion and incoming Chartered Institute of Housing president says domestic violence needs to be centre of housing policy</p><p>Alison Inman, who is about to start a year’s term as president of the <a href="http://www.cih.org/" title="">Chartered Institute of Housing</a>, has been pushing for greater tenant involvement for decades. Back in 2011, when she was chair of the national federation of Almos – the arm’s length management organisations bodies spun out from councils to manage council housing – she wrote that they should give tenants more of a say in how their estates were&nbsp;managed.</p><p>Fast forward to 2017 and the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/grenfell-tower-fire" title="">fire at Grenfell Tower</a> highlighted a culture in which many residents felt their concerns are being ignored. So does Inman still think social housing providers, whether they are councils, Almos or tenant management organisations like the one that ran Grenfell, have become more tenant-centred?</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/housing-network/2017/aug/18/social-housing-residents-tenants-badly-treated-grenfell-ledbury-modern-britain">The way residents and tenants are treated is a stain on modern Britain</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/aug/29/number-suffer-perpetrate-domestic-abuse-will-live-social-housing-alison-inman">Continue reading...</a>HousingDomestic violenceSocietySocial housingCommunitiesHousing NetworkTue, 29 Aug 2017 13:01:12 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/aug/29/number-suffer-perpetrate-domestic-abuse-will-live-social-housing-alison-inmanPhotograph: Teri Pengilley for the GuardianPhotograph: Teri Pengilley for the GuardianJane Dudman2017-08-29T13:01:12Z‘Young people can’t get the kind of help I did when I was homeless’ | Dawn Fosterhttps://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jul/26/big-ambitions-tackle-housing-shortage-national-problem
<p>Benefits put a roof over my head when I was 17, says shadow housing minister Melanie Onn. But it’s not so easy now</p><p>Melanie Onn, the Labour MP for Great Grimsby and new shadow housing minister, grew up in the town she has represented in parliament since 2015. Onn, who worked in Labour’s compliance unit for 10 years, is friendly and chatty and seems to have a deep and genuine interest in the town. “I was born and raised in Grimsby and moved around a lot within the town when I was younger,” she says. “Some people want to just be an MP, and that’s fine, but I really wanted to represent the town,” she says.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/apr/20/over-200000-homes-in-england-still-lying-empty-despite-housing-shortages">Housing crisis: more than 200,000 homes in England lie empty</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/nov/20/britains-housing-crisis-must-be-tackled-now">Britain’s housing crisis is so serious that it must be tackled now</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jul/26/big-ambitions-tackle-housing-shortage-national-problem">Continue reading...</a>HousingSocietyCommunitiesUK newsBenefitsPoliticsHomelessnessSocial exclusionPovertyHousing NetworkWed, 26 Jul 2017 07:00:34 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jul/26/big-ambitions-tackle-housing-shortage-national-problemPhotograph: Christopher Thomond for the GuardianPhotograph: Christopher Thomond for the GuardianDawn Foster2017-07-26T07:00:34Z‘Housing should be seen as a human right. Not a commodity’ | Patrick Butlerhttps://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/feb/28/luxury-real-estate-housing-crisis-un-homelessness
<p>The boom in luxury real estate is fuelling the housing crisis and ripping communities apart, says UN envoy Leilani Farha</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/housing-network/2017/feb/28/un-report-lays-bare-the-waste-of-treating-homes-as-commodities">UN report lays bare the waste of treating homes as commodities</a></li></ul><p>The United Nations housing envoy, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/profile/leilani-farha">Leilani Farha</a>, is in the marketing suite next to the <a href="http://canalettolondon.com/home">Canaletto building</a>. It’s an unlovely, bulked-up, look-at-me 31-storey luxury apartment block towering over a canal basin on the once down-at-heel border of Islington and Shoreditch in east London. How much does it cost to buy a home here, asks Farha. The sales assistant replies that a three-bed flat would set her back over £3m.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/apr/11/london-set-for-more-than-35000-new-luxury-homes-in-next-decade">London set for more than 35,000 new luxury homes in next decade</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/housing-network/2017/feb/28/un-report-lays-bare-the-waste-of-treating-homes-as-commodities">UN report lays bare the waste of treating homes as commodities</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/nov/20/britains-housing-crisis-must-be-tackled-now">Britain’s housing crisis is so serious that it must be tackled now</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/feb/28/luxury-real-estate-housing-crisis-un-homelessness">Continue reading...</a>HousingSocietyCommunitiesPropertyMoneyReal estateBusinessCitiesUK newsIncome inequalityTue, 28 Feb 2017 13:00:28 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/feb/28/luxury-real-estate-housing-crisis-un-homelessnessPhotograph: Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty ImagesPatrick Butler2017-02-28T13:00:28ZDavid Simmonds: who’s going to pay to help child refugees? | Amelia Gentlemanhttps://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/sep/14/david-simmonds-pay-help-child-refugees-lga-council-funding
The chair of the LGA’s asylum, refugee and migration task group says councils need more funding if they are to house unaccompanied children<p>Persuading councils to accommodate more refugees is a delicate art, but it is one that David Simmonds – who has overseen a successful drive to get councils to find homes for 20,000 vulnerable Syrian refugees – has begun to master.</p><p>Earlier this month the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/first-anniversary-of-government-commitment-to-resettle-20000-syrian-refugees" title="">government announced that homes had been found for all the Syrian refugees the UK had committed to house</a>, and about 2,800 had arrived. Simmonds, who chairs the Local Government Association’s asylum, refugee and migration task group, describes this (with understated satisfaction) as a “good achievement” and “one of the success stories”.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/03/child-refugees-theresa-may-yvette-cooper">Child refugees: Theresa May should be ashamed, says Yvette Cooper</a> </p><p>‘It’s no good saying ‘yes, we want to help’ unless you are also willing to say what that means in practice’</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2016/may/19/kindertransport-survivors-todays-child-refugees-nicholas-winton">Kindertransport survivors on today's child refugees</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/sep/14/david-simmonds-pay-help-child-refugees-lga-council-funding">Continue reading...</a>ChildrenRefugeesLocal governmentHousingSocietyPublic financeImmigration and asylumWed, 14 Sep 2016 06:59:06 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/sep/14/david-simmonds-pay-help-child-refugees-lga-council-fundingPhotograph: Graeme Robertson for the GuardianPhotograph: Graeme Robertson for the GuardianAmelia Gentleman2016-09-14T06:59:06ZAn affordable space of one’s own | Dawn Fosterhttps://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jan/06/arts-hotel-creative-space-housing-cuts
<p>Self-styled ‘artrepreneur’ Nick Hartwright on how his Green Rooms will benefit local communities hit by cuts and housing crisis and open up creative avenues</p><p>Nick Hartwright is tiggerish as he excitedly bounces around the Green Rooms, a new “arts hotel” that is opening in north London in May. The 39-year old weaves through the building site, pointing out original features of the imposing property, Haringey council’s former housing office in Wood Green, first built as a showroom for a local business selling fireplaces, lighting and other home fittings in the 1920s. The ornate stonework on the building’s facade is punctured with cast bronze plaques advertising the North Metropolitan Electric Company’s past, high enough to escape the notice of the dozens of people pushing buggies or waiting for buses.</p><p>One side of the ground floor will include a large cafe, with rotating street food vendors offered free space, and business training while they are in residence. The first business, selling Colombian street food, is based minutes away, “Esteban’s just up the road,” Hartwright says. “He’s got 50 covers, so he’s going to come in with his <a href="http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Colombian-Arepas-Epicurious?prm-v1" title="">arepas</a>, and it’ll bring some variety to the area.” There will also be a bar at the entrance, facing Haringey council’s main office, fittingly: the local authority is working in collaboration with the self-styled “artrepreneur” to open Green Rooms, which plans to offer low-cost accommodation, studios and performance space, to encourage collaborative work in the creative industries.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jan/06/arts-hotel-creative-space-housing-cuts">Continue reading...</a>RegenerationCommunitiesHousingSocietyPublic sector cutsLondonWed, 06 Jan 2016 08:00:12 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jan/06/arts-hotel-creative-space-housing-cutsPhotograph: David Levene for the GuardianPhotograph: David Levene for the GuardianDawn Foster2016-01-06T08:00:12ZDaisy-May Hudson: ‘Being homeless came as a big shock’https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/nov/11/homeless-shock-daisy-may-hudson-film-half-way
The 24-year-old film-maker’s documentary, Half Way, records her family’s loss of their home and struggle to find somewhere to live – to show it can happen to anyone<p>For 13 years, Daisy-May Hudson lived in a small house in Epping, on the outskirts of east London, with her mother and young sister. “My mum’s a single parent and we came from some difficult circumstances before, so it was our safe space, our sanctuary,” says Hudson.</p><p>Then, the landlord (a large chain of supermarkets) decided it was going to sell off smaller assets so the family, along with other tenants, was sent an eviction notice. Hudson’s mother has worked for most of her life in various low-paying jobs while juggling childcare, but it was never enough to save, as well as meet outgoings, she says. So, it quickly became apparent that putting down a deposit and paying rent on any other privately rented homes in the area was completely beyond their means.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/nov/11/homeless-shock-daisy-may-hudson-film-half-way">Continue reading...</a>HomelessnessHousingSocial exclusionSocietyFilmCultureDocumentaryWed, 11 Nov 2015 08:00:13 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/nov/11/homeless-shock-daisy-may-hudson-film-half-wayPhotograph: felix clay for the GuardianPhotograph: felix clay for the GuardianDawn Foster2015-11-11T08:00:13ZAnna Dixon: ‘We should expect a good old age’ | Kate Murrayhttps://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/sep/30/expect-good-old-age-anna-dixon-centre-ageing-better
The chief executive of the Centre for Ageing Better on how the UK can improve people’s experience of getting older<p>How do we give more people a better later life? This question is set to dominate public debate in the years to come says Anna Dixon, as we live longer, while pension provision is stretched and health and social care funding is squeezed. In her new job as chief executive of the <a href="http://www.centreforageingbetter.com/">Centre for Ageing Better</a>, Dixon is one of those tasked with coming up with fresh ways of preparing for our rapidly ageing society.</p><p>“We think there’s lots of opportunity to change not only how we experience old age but some of the perceptions of what it is to grow old,” is how she puts it. “We have a great opportunity to make a big difference on one of the biggest public policy issues internationally. We want the work we do to mean more of us look forward to a good old age.”</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/nov/05/social-prescribing-fishing-group-doctor-ordered">Why social prescribing is just what the doctor ordered | Rachel Williams</a> </p><p>We all know older people whose needs aren’t met by health and social care, who struggle to manage at home</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/sep/30/expect-good-old-age-anna-dixon-centre-ageing-better">Continue reading...</a>Older peopleSocietyHealthSocial careHousingCommunitiesLife expectancyWed, 30 Sep 2015 06:59:06 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/sep/30/expect-good-old-age-anna-dixon-centre-ageing-betterPhotograph: Frantzesco Kangaris/Frantzesco Kangaris for The GuardianPhotograph: Frantzesco Kangaris/Frantzesco Kangaris for The GuardianKate Murray2015-09-30T06:59:06ZHousing association chief: ‘2.5m homes built – we’re doing a good job’ | Kate Murrayhttps://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/sep/23/housing-association-chief-david-montague
David Montague, head of one of the biggest housing associations, defends his sector against attacks from the government<p>When the <a href="http://www.housing.org.uk/press/press-releases/national-housing-federation-response-to-todays-prime-ministers-questions-on-housing-associations/" title="">prime minister </a>and the <a href="http://www.24dash.com/news/housing/2015-09-09-Osborne-versus-housing-associations-the-Lords-debate-in-full" title="">chancellor both take a swipe at the work you do </a>within the space of a week, you know you have a bit of a problem. Housing associations, once the favoured partners of government to develop new housing, are – we are told by David Cameron and George Osborne – not efficient enough or dynamic enough at producing the homes the country needs.</p><p>All of which must come as a bit of a surprise to David Montague, chief executive of one of the biggest housing association developers, <a href="http://www.lqgroup.org.uk/" title="">L&amp;Q</a>, which manages 72,000 homes across London and the south-east and recently unveiled plans for 50,000 more – all to be delivered without government grant. The £12bn decade-long programme will be the most ambitious the housing association world has ever seen. It’s a far cry from the little charity launched 52 years ago by a south London vicar and a group of local businessmen with a share capital of just £64.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/housing-network/2015/aug/14/social-housing-britain-future-profit-purpose-genesis">Profit or purpose? The fight over the future of social housing in Britain</a> </p><p>Social housing is important in so many people’s quality of life. It’s sad when it’s seen as part of the problem</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/housing-network/editors-blog/2014/sep/26/social-housing-executive-pay-salary-indefensible">Social housing chief executives’ enormous pay packets are indefensible</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/sep/23/housing-association-chief-david-montague">Continue reading...</a>SocietySocial housingCommunitiesHousingUK newsWed, 23 Sep 2015 07:00:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/sep/23/housing-association-chief-david-montaguePhotograph: Martin Godwin for the GuardianPhotograph: Martin Godwin for the GuardianKate Murray2015-09-23T07:00:01ZThe crisis is in housing, not who owns it | Patrick Butlerhttps://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/may/27/david-orr-housing-association-crisis-tory-plans-right-to-buy
David Orr, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, warns that Tory plans to extend the right to buy and to lower the benefits cap threaten housing associations’ ability to build affordable homes<p>“On 6 May we had a housing crisis. We then had an election. On 8 May we still had a housing crisis,” says David Orr, chief executive of the <a href="http://www.housing.org.uk/">National Housing Federation</a>. “The election didn’t make any difference to the underlying fact that we hadn’t built enough new homes and we had not focused sufficiently on regeneration; unless we start doing both of these things very quickly we will not be able to house our children.”</p><p>The benefit cap will reduce housing associations’ ability to borrow and so the number of new homes they can build</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/davehillblog/2015/may/21/boris-johnson-tory-unelaborated-new-right-to-buy-can-work-in-london">Boris Johnson: Tory 'unelaborated' new Right to Buy can work in London</a> </p><p>In London, if you are a [jobless] family with three children, a one-bedroom flat would take you above the £23,000 cap</p><p>Open contributions: <a href="https://bit.ly/1FfBFsa">What has your experience been of right-to-buy schemes?</a></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/may/27/david-orr-housing-association-crisis-tory-plans-right-to-buy">Continue reading...</a>HousingCommunitiesBenefitsSocietyConservativesQueen's speechPoliticsWed, 27 May 2015 07:00:31 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/may/27/david-orr-housing-association-crisis-tory-plans-right-to-buyPhotograph: Graham Turner/GuardianDavid Orr, chief executive of The Housing Federation: ‘There’s no other public-private partnership in the economy that has been as consistently successful as
we have’
Photograph: Graham Turner for the GuardianPhotograph: Graham Turner/GuardianDavid Orr, chief executive of The Housing Federation: ‘There’s no other public-private partnership in the economy that has been as consistently successful as
we have’
Photograph: Graham Turner for the GuardianPatrick Butler2015-05-27T07:00:31ZFamily reunited after housing battle led to separation and homelessness | Amelia Gentlemanhttps://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/may/20/family-reunited-housing-battle-separation-benefits-cap
Titina Nzolameso on her successful fight to be rehoused after the benefits cap left her homeless and her children being taken into care, and the impact this could have on similar cases<p><strong> <br></strong></p><p>When Titina Nzolameso got a letter from Westminster council offering her new accommodation 50 miles away in Milton Keynes, she had little over 24 hours to work out how she was going to uproot her five children from London and find them new schools in a part of the country she had never visited, far from the friends and support structures she had built up over the previous 17 years. “I didn’t know anything about Milton Keynes; I didn’t go and look at it,” she says during an interview at her lawyer’s office.</p><p>I became more unwell. I couldn’t sleep and I couldn’t eat. I had never, ever been separated from the children before.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/mar/05/families-priced-out-london-homes-benefit-cap">The families priced out of their London homes by benefit cap | Amelia Gentleman</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/may/20/family-reunited-housing-battle-separation-benefits-cap">Continue reading...</a>Housing benefitHousingCommunitiesSocietyBenefitsWelfareWed, 20 May 2015 07:00:06 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/may/20/family-reunited-housing-battle-separation-benefits-capPhotograph: Christian Sinibaldi/GuardianTitina Nzolameso is now living with her children on the outskirts of London. Photograph: Christian Sinibaldi for the GuardianPhotograph: Christian Sinibaldi/GuardianTitina Nzolameso is now living with her children on the outskirts of London. Photograph: Christian Sinibaldi for the GuardianAmelia Gentleman2015-05-20T07:00:06ZHeather Kennedy: ‘As a private tenant, I see the market can’t solve housing need’ | Hannah Fearnhttps://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/apr/22/heather-kennedy-digs-private-renters-rights-campaign-group
Private renters’ rights campaigner Heather Kennedy says politicians are not listening. Only direct action is getting the message across that the system has to change<p>When charity worker Heather Kennedy, 31, moved from Leeds to London four years ago and tried to find somewhere to live, she noticed something was amiss.</p><p>“I’ve been renting all my adult life, since I was 17, but I was struck by how much more difficult it was in London because the imbalance of power between landlords and tenants was so much more stark,” she says.</p><p>The genie is out of the bottle. People who were in housing crisis are now articulate activists about what is going wrong</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/apr/22/heather-kennedy-digs-private-renters-rights-campaign-group">Continue reading...</a>HousingRenting propertyCommunitiesSocietyPovertySocial exclusionWed, 22 Apr 2015 07:30:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/apr/22/heather-kennedy-digs-private-renters-rights-campaign-groupPhotograph: Linda Nylind/GuardianHousing activist Heather Kennedy set about researching her legal rights as a tenant and found the system to be overwhelmingly in favour of landlords. Photograph: Linda Nylind for the GuardianPhotograph: Linda Nylind/GuardianHousing activist Heather Kennedy set about researching her legal rights as a tenant and found the system to be overwhelmingly in favour of landlords. Photograph: Linda Nylind for the GuardianHannah Fearn2015-04-22T07:30:01ZA formidable double act joining up services for women | Rachel Williamshttps://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/oct/08/double-act-joining-up-services-women-centre
<p>The two heads of West Yorkshire’s WomenCentre on why their one-stop approach works</p><p>When a vulnerable woman first steps through the unprepossessing green doors of the WomenCentre in Halifax, she will probably have come here with one problem in mind, says Clare Jones, the organisation’s national lead. Once she has sat down with a worker and talked it through, it may well turn out that her priority is something different.</p><p>“She might be coming in about domestic abuse, but actually what might be more important to her is a recognition she’s scared she’s going to lose her children,” explains WomenCentre chief executive Angela Everson, perched next to Jones. “By the time we’ve unlocked all that we’re probably supporting women with their mental and physical health and wellbeing, with their parenting, with budgeting and other practical things,” adds Jones. “In 80% of cases we’re supporting them around safety and domestic abuse too, and we’re also supporting another proportion around criminal justice, either as victims or offenders.”</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/oct/08/double-act-joining-up-services-women-centre">Continue reading...</a>Domestic violenceHomelessnessSocial exclusionHousingSocietyWomenLife and stylePublic services policyWed, 08 Oct 2014 07:00:23 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/oct/08/double-act-joining-up-services-women-centrePhotograph: Christopher Thomond /GuardianAngela Everson (left) and Clare Jones of WomenCentre in Halifax. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the GuardianPhotograph: Christopher Thomond /GuardianAngela Everson (left) and Clare Jones of WomenCentre in Halifax. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the GuardianRachel Williams2014-10-08T07:00:23ZThe planning chief who says garden cities can solve the housing crisis | Hannah Fearnhttps://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/sep/17/planning-chief-housing-crisis-garden-cities-kate-henderson
Kate Henderson is an unlikely head of the Town and Country Planning Association and a female leader in a male-dominated industry<p>All three major political parties have signed up to the idea of new garden cities as a solution to the housing crisis. This is a victory for Kate Henderson, the 34-year-old chief executive of the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA), which has been consistently campaigning for the creation of garden cities for more than a century.</p><p>"When we had the general election four years ago," says Henderson, "there was no talk of large-scale new communities, and over the last couple of years it's really grown in profile. A lot of that has been down to pragmatism – having a really strong vision of what a garden city could achieve, but being very pragmatic about how we deliver it in today's context."</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/sep/17/planning-chief-housing-crisis-garden-cities-kate-henderson">Continue reading...</a>HousingCommunitiesSocietyPlanning policyConstruction industryWomenCitiesGarden citiesWed, 17 Sep 2014 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/sep/17/planning-chief-housing-crisis-garden-cities-kate-hendersonPhotograph: Martin Godwin/GuardianKate Henderson, chief executive of the Town and Country Planning Association, wants to see more women in construction. Photograph: Martin Godwin for the GuardianPhotograph: Martin Godwin/GuardianKate Henderson, chief executive of the Town and Country Planning Association, wants to see more women in construction. Photograph: Martin Godwin for the GuardianHannah Fearn2014-09-17T06:00:00ZNotting Hill housing chief: 'the ends justify the means' | Hannah Fearnhttps://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/apr/23/social-housing-notting-hill-kate-davies-private-sector
Kate Davies wants more social housing, but accepts that creating it means catering for wealthier homeowners and private renters too<p>In the nine years since I first <a href="http://www.insidehousing.co.uk/journals/insidehousing/legacydata/uploads/pdfs/IH.051209.020-021.pdf" title="">interviewed Kate Davies</a>, chief executive of <a href="http://www.nottinghillhousing.org.uk/" title="">Notting Hill Housing Group</a>, she has come a long way. Then she had just taken the helm at one of the leading housing associations in the south-east and was building and managing affordable homes for some of London's poorest people. Now almost one-fifth of Notting Hill's housing portfolio is private rentals and housing for shared ownership, and it is increasingly having to develop high-quality property for wealthy individuals to sell on the open market in order to fund its much-needed social housing.</p><p>Davies, 57, relishes the professional independence that funding social housing through commercial property sales now offers following shrinking government subsidy. "If you're entirely dependent on government, that is a feeling of weakness," she says. "You haven't got so much say over what you do; you're simply churning out sausages for the government."</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/apr/23/social-housing-notting-hill-kate-davies-private-sector">Continue reading...</a>Social housingHousingSocietyPropertyMoneyWed, 23 Apr 2014 07:00:03 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/apr/23/social-housing-notting-hill-kate-davies-private-sectorPhotograph: Sarah Lee/GuardianKate Davies: 'We don’t always advertise enough that we’re both commercial and trying to make the world a better place.' Photograph: Sarah Lee for the GuardianPhotograph: Sarah Lee/GuardianKate Davies: 'We don’t always advertise enough that we’re both commercial and trying to make the world a better place.' Photograph: Sarah Lee for the GuardianHannah Fearn2014-04-23T07:00:03ZCharles Fraser: 'I'd rather be here now than in 1980 when no one gave a damn' | Hannah Fearnhttps://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/apr/02/charles-fraser-homelessness-funds-better-1980
Despite his anger at public sector cuts, the outgoing head of St Mungo's homelessness charity feels funding is better than 30 years ago<p>Charles Fraser stepped down as chief executive of St Mungo's homeless charity this week after more than 30 years at the organisation, 20 of them in the top job. He leaves it a very different beast to the one he joined. In 1980, St Mungo's had one large London hostel with 650 beds and two dozen staff; now it offers thousands of beds to homeless people across the capital and employs more than 1,000 staff. His departure also coincides with the merging of two of London's best known homeless charities to create St Mungo's Broadway.</p><p>It is a move Fraser has nurtured. "I think the voluntary sector should not be afraid of being large," he says. "It isn't true that authenticity is the sole preserve of small organisations. I think you can have real impact if you have more resources and you can bring more services to bear. There is a feeling that big organisations are very remote from their beneficiaries. St Mungo's has never been remote and must never be remote. We have evolved through various phases. We have always tried to keep the good things about St Mungo's, but adapt and change those things that could benefit [from change]."</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/apr/02/charles-fraser-homelessness-funds-better-1980">Continue reading...</a>HomelessnessHousingSocial exclusionSocietyCommunitiesCharitiesVoluntary sectorWed, 02 Apr 2014 07:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/apr/02/charles-fraser-homelessness-funds-better-1980Photograph: Teri Pengilley/PRCharles Fraser is retiring after 20 years as chief executive of homelessness charity St Mungo's. Photograph: Teri PengilleyPhotograph: Teri Pengilley/PRCharles Fraser is retiring after 20 years as chief executive of homelessness charity St Mungo's. Photograph: Teri PengilleyHannah Fearn2014-04-02T07:00:00ZDuncan Maclennan: Scotland should have levied a 1p tax to deal with housing and social problems | Peter Hetheringtonhttps://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/feb/12/duncan-maclennan-scotland-housing-referendum
Leading housing academic says the referendum is a distraction from solving a host of social ills in Scotland<p>When the late Donald Dewar, father of Scottish devolution, wanted a key adviser for the return of self-government, he turned to academic Duncan Maclennan. "I said: 'I'm outside politics' and Donald said: 'precisely, that's why I want you'," Maclennan recalls.</p><p>Fifteen years on from his role as right-hand man to Dewar, who was then the newly installed first minister, Maclennan can draw on a wealth of overseas experience, including long spells working for governments in Australia and Canada, to reflect on opportunities missed by successive administrations in Edinburgh.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/feb/12/duncan-maclennan-scotland-housing-referendum">Continue reading...</a>HousingSocietyCommunitiesPublic sector cutsPublic services policyPublic financeWed, 12 Feb 2014 08:29:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/feb/12/duncan-maclennan-scotland-housing-referendumPhotograph: Murdo MacLeodProfessor Duncan Maclennan on a housing scheme in his home town of Edinburgh. Photograph: Murdo MacLeodPhotograph: Murdo MacLeodProfessor Duncan Maclennan on a housing scheme in his home town of Edinburgh. Photograph: Murdo MacLeodPeter Hetherington2014-02-12T08:29:00ZNatalie Elphicke: Drawing up a new blueprint for social housing | Hannah Fearnhttps://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/jun/25/natalie-elphicke-blueprint-social-housing-finance
Ready to thwart vested interests – meet the woman with a plan to overhaul the financing of affordable housing to create 1 million new homes, grant-free<p>Natalie Elphicke is frustrated. After 20 years working on the fringes, she is fed up with what she describes as the "vested interests" of the social housing sector. The respected lawyer and housing finance expert has turned her back on corporate life to set up a housing association and campaigning group, <a href="http://www.millionhomes.org/million-lives-project/" title="">Million Homes Million Lives</a>, and&nbsp;she is not afraid to challenge the status quo.</p><p>For a start, Elphicke believes the housing sector is exaggerating the extent of housing need. "We don't subscribe to the view that we need 6m homes. [I'm] helping to unlock 100,000 extra homes a year over a decade and that's about the level that, historically, is realistic. That will take us to 220 to 250 starts [homes under construction] and that's something that's within the capacity of the housebuilding industry," she says.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/jun/25/natalie-elphicke-blueprint-social-housing-finance">Continue reading...</a>HousingSocial housingCommunitiesSocietyTue, 25 Jun 2013 14:00:02 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/jun/25/natalie-elphicke-blueprint-social-housing-financePhotograph: Sean Smith/GuardianNatalie Elphicke: 'When you buy a car, you can buy it 10 different ways. Housing has not seen the same level of financial change and innovation.' Photograph: Sean Smith for the GuardianPhotograph: Sean Smith/GuardianNatalie Elphicke: 'When you buy a car, you can buy it 10 different ways. Housing has not seen the same level of financial change and innovation.' Photograph: Sean Smith for the GuardianHannah Fearn2013-06-25T14:00:02Z